2016 a year of growth, turbulence for San Antonio...

1of 29Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc. now expects its deal to acquire San Antonio-based CST Brands Inc. to close Wednesday.Photo: Corner Store

2of 29Rackspace CEO Taylor Rhodes, top left, and company co-founder Graham Weston, top right, speak with employees on Aug. 26, after the sale of the company to Apollo Global Management was announced. The company is cutting 6 percent of its U.S. workforce, more than 275 employees.Photo: Billy Calzada /San Antonio Express-News

3of 29An anticipated population explosion spurred city leaders to lay out a comprehensive master growth plan, SA Tomorrow. San Antonio’s population is expected to jump 50 percent to 3 million over the next 25 years.Photo: Edward A. Ornelas /San Antonio Express-News

4of 29TRT Holdings Inc., a Dallas holding company that owns the Omni Hotels and Resorts chain, has joined the development team for the new Frost Tower downtown.Photo: Illustration courtesy of Pelli Clarke Pelli

5of 29The $300 million plan to turn the abandoned Lone Star Brewery into a mixed-use development got a thumbs-up from the Zoning Commission today, the first of many steps in the city approval process.Photo: Richard Webner / Illustration Courtesy Of Aqualand Development And CBL & Associates Properties Inc.

6of 29As oil prices have rallied the last few months, more rigs have been put into service in West Texas’ prolific Permian Basin Shale play and to a lesser extent South Texas’ Eagle Ford ShalePhoto: John Davenport /San Antonio Express-News

7of 29FILE - In this April 13, 2016, file photo, Rodney Rodriguez checks the damage to his 2008 Ford Escape in the Woodlake neighborhood in San Antonio, after a severe hailstorm hit the area the night before. The Insurance Council of Texas says a hailstorm that hit the San Antonio area last week proved to be the costliest in Texas history, with damage estimated at nearly $1.4 billion. (Jerry Lara/San Antonio Express-News via AP, File) MAGS OUT NO SALES SAN ANTONIO OUTPhoto: Jerry Lara, MBO / Associated Press

8of 29SeaWorld Entertainment Corp. saw a 15 percent jump in attendance during the first three months of 2018. But the Orlando company still posted a $62.8 million loss for the period, despite revenue gains.Photo: Bob Owen /San Antonio Express-News

9of 29Singer Niall Horan performs onstage during iHeartRadio’s Jingle Ball 2016 last month at Allstate Arena. Bondholders have transferred an iHeartMedia Inc. lawsuit against them to federal district court in San Antonio from Bexar County state district court, according to court documents.Photo: Daniel Boczarski /Getty Images for iHeart

10of 29The city of San Antonio lost a major philanthropist and the H-E-B family lost one of its own when Howard E. Butt Jr. died in mid-September.Photo: San Antonio Express-News /File photo

11of 29Donald Trump’s election to the White House briefly sent global markets tumbling before surging to record highs, shaking up shares of health care, defense contracting and other stocks. His surprise win also sent local business leaders to Washington to try to preserve trade with Mexico.Photo: Chip Somodevilla /Getty Images

12of 29The 2018 NCAA Men’s Final Four Logo is introduced at the Unveiling & Pep Rally Kick Off Road to San Antonio on Dec. 1, 2016, inside the gym at Mission Concepcion Sports Park.Photo: Ron Cortes /For the Express-News

13of 29The city debuts the $325 million expansion of the Convention Center — its largest ever capital improvement project — making San Antonio eligible for bigger and more lucrative meetings.Photo: Kin Man Hui /San Antonio Express-News

14of 29Shoppers from Mexico and along the border make their way to San Antonio to shop and vacation during Holy Week or Semana Santa. The Shops at La Cantera was one of many locations for vacationing consumers to seek out as a primary shopping destination in the city.Photo: Kin Man Hui /San Antonio Express-News

15of 29Longtime Cullen/Frost Bankers Inc. exec Richard “Dick” Evans retired in March after a 45-year career at the San Antonio financial institution.Photo: Robin Jerstad /For the Express-News

16of 29A worker uses a lift to move rolls of sheet metal at LMS International in Laredo. Donald Trump’s campaign promise to abandon NAFTA helped win over Rust Belt voters who felt left behind by globalization. But the idea is unnerving to many people in cities on the U.S.-Mexico border such as Laredo, which has thrived under the trade pact.Photo: Eric Gay /Associated Press

17of 29The owners of Cowboys Dancehall are looking to sell the venue and the land it sits on for $12 million — two months after the partnership that owns the Northeast Side club filed for bankruptcy.Photo: Express-News file photo

18of 29State Sen. Carlos Uresti emerges as a key figure in an Express-News investigation of the bankruptcy of San Antonio-based FourWinds Logistics, which traded sand used for fracking.Photo: Courtesy photo

19of 29A drilling rig sits north of the Davis Mountains in Balmorhea. Apache Corp. announced in September the discovery of an estimated 15 billion barrels of oil and gas in the area.Photo: Michael Ciaglo /Houston Chronicle

20of 29Miracle Mattress temporarily closed its doors in September after the store’s online advertisement for a 9/11-themed “Twin Tower Sale” stoked national outrage and condemnation on social media ahead of the 15th anniversary of the attacks. The store on the city’s Northwest Side reopened later and pledged a renewed “focus on community support and humility.”Photo: Marvin Pfeiffer /San Antonio Express-News

21of 29Despite Tim Duncan’s July retirement, H-E-B opts to include him in the latest installment of its popular commercial series starring the Spurs and said the company plans to continue its partnership with the former power forward.Photo: H-E-B

23of 29Former attorney Todd Prins, right, fabricated court documents, forged judges’ signatures and raided his own law firm’s trust account to pay for a European vacation. He was sentenced by U.S. District Judge David A. Ezra on Tuesday.Photo: William Luther /San Antonio Express-News

24of 29Christopher Moore, managing director of Raven Petroleum, says environmental permits for his proposed South Texas refinery may be filed in the next three months.Photo: Contributed photo /Contributed photo

26of 29Dorothy Pena holds up a sign protesting the possible water contamination that took place in Corpus Christi in mid-December. For three days, much of the city of 320,000 people had to rely on bottled water for all uses, including washing and cooking, after a possible contamination event at an Ergon emulsifier manufacturing plant that is leased from Valero Energy Corp.Photo: John Davenport /San Antonio Express-News

27of 29President-elect Donald Trump shakes hands with Elsa Murano after meeting Wednesday at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida. Murano, a former Texas A&M University president who served as undersecretary of agriculture for food safety under President George W. Bush, is one of at least three Texans considered to lead the U.S. Department of Agriculture under Trump.Photo: Don Emmert /AFP /Getty Images

28of 29Former Texas state comptroller and two-term Texas Department of Agriculture Commissioner Susan Combs is one of at least three Texans who interviewed for the post of USDA secretary as President-elect Donald Trump filled spots on his Cabinet.Photo: Associated Press /File photo

29of 29Texas Agriculture Comissioner Sid Miller is one of at least three Texans who made the short list for Donald Trump’s pick as USDA secretary.Photo: Spencer Selvidge /For the San Antonio Express-News

A look back at some of the biggest stories for San Antonio businesses for 2016:

San Antonio-area businesses experienced some major growing pains in 2016. Two of the city's largest publicly traded homegrown institutions — Rackspace Hosting Inc. and CST Brands Inc. — were sold to global companies.

Commercial real estate deals boomed along with the expected growth as Frost Bank and local developer Weston Urban laid out bold plans for a new downtown headquarters that project leaders promise will “redefine the San Antonio skyline.” Plans for rehabilitating the Lone Star Brewery were unveiled while city leaders tentatively approved a $320 million “very large Pearl” type of development project at the bustling intersection of Interstate 10 and Loop 1604.

The year wasn’t without setbacks for the San Antonio business community. The downturn of the oil sector — and its stabilization — was a recurring theme throughout the year, leaving roughly 100,000 Texans out of work and marring state and municipal finances.

The region suffered some of its costliest hailstorms ever in April with three consecutive storms causing $5.5 billion in insured damages throughout the state, shuttering schools and businesses.

SeaWorld San Antonio lost a dolphin in February — its fourth mammal death in under a year. The news was followed by a corporate shake-up from SeaWorld Entertainment Inc.’s Orlando headquarters and a new president of the local park.

The financial condition of San Antonio-based iHeartMedia deteriorated throughout 2016 as the company fought off attempts by bond investors to force its notes into default in March, making bankruptcy increasingly more likely in the radio and billboard giant’s future.

The city of San Antonio lost a major philanthropist and the H-E-B family lost one of its own when Howard E. Butt Jr. died in mid-September.

Donald Trump’s election to the White House briefly sent global markets tumbling before surging to record highs, shaking up shares of health care, defense contracting and other stocks. His surprise win sent local business leaders to Washington to try to preserve trade with Mexico.